International Football
CAF Champions League Enters First Leg Into Money Spinning Stage
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
The revamped CAF Champions League enters crucial stage as clubs struggle to get into the lucrative group stage. Two Nigerian clubs, Enugu Rangers and Rivers United are up against vast experienced oppositions.
In Cairo, Enugu Rangers will be facing Zamalek of Egypt on Sunday. Except for the then IICC Shooting Stars overcoming Zamalek after penalty shootout in the then African Winners’ Cup semi-finals in 1976, no Nigerian club has had positive results in confrontation with Zamalek.
On two occasions, Zamalek overcame Shooting Stars to become continental champions in 1984 and 1996. Zamalek had gone ahead to win the title three more times to become five-time African champions and two times runners up.
Shooting Stars, Super Stores, Kwara United, Enyimba all have fell by the way side in epic confrontation with Zamalek.
It is the spate of such bad results that continental returnee, Enugu Rangers will be attempting to halt when they meet the Cairo side on Sunday.
Rivers United, debuting in the continent. carry the same burden as they face Sudan’s El Merrikh who are on their 21st appearance in Africa’s lead clubs’ competition.
Rivers will be hoping to replicate the potency in attack they exhibited against Real Bamako in the preliminary round and obtain a good result ahead of the return leg.
In other places, four most successful clubs in African competitions enter the 2017 CAF Champions League this weekend expecting to build first-leg leads at home in last-32 ties.
Record eight-time title winners Ahly of Egypt only managed a 1-0 win over South African league leaders Wits, who are playing in the elite African competition for the first time.
Ahly last won the Champions League in 2013, and six of the Egypt squad that finished Africa Cup of Nations runners-up last month came from the Cairo “Red Devils”.
TP Mazembe of the DR Congo, second behind Ahly with five successes, meet unimpressive preliminary round winners CAPS United of Zimbabwe.
Etoile Sahel of Tunisia, the only club to win all five current and past CAF competitions, also boast nine combined titles ahead of a clash with AS Tanda of the Cote d’Ivoire.
The last-32 line-up includes eight winners of the Champions League, including title-holders Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa, who host Kampala Capital City Authority of Uganda.
Esperance of Tunisia, V Club of DR Congo and Wydad Casablanca of Morocco complete the line-up of clubs who lifted the richest and most prized African trophy.
Another five challengers, Leopards of Congo Brazzaville, FUS Rabat of Morocco, Horoya of Guinea, Al Merrikh of Sudan and Enugu, have won other CAF titles.
All the fixtures
Friday 10 March
- Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa) 2-0 Kampala CCA (Uganda)
Saturday 11 March
- Young Africans (Tanzania) 1-1 Zanaco FC (Zambia)
- 17:00 Wydad de Casablanca (Morocco) vs. Mounana (Gabon)
18:30 Ahly (Egypt) vs. Bidvest Wits (South Africa)
Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia) 3-1 Horoya (Guinea)
- 21:30 USM Alger (Algeria) vs. RC Kadiogo (Burkina Faso)
Sunday 12 March
- Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya) vs. FUS Rabat (Morocco)
- Ferroviario Beira (Mozambique) vs. Barrack Young Controllers (Liberia)
- TP Mazembe Englebert (DR. Congo) vs. CAPS United FC (Zimbabwe)
- Cotonsport (Cameroon) vs. CNaPS Sport (Madagascar)
- Leopards de Dolisie (Congo) vs. Kedus Giorgis (Ethiopia)
- Rivers United FC (Nigeria) vs. Al Merrikh (Sudan)
- Zamalek (Egypt) vs. Enugu Rangers (Nigeria)
- Gambia Ports Authority (Gambia) vs. AS Vita Club (DR Congo)
- Al Hilal Omdurman (Sudan) vs. AS Port-Louis 2000 (Mauritius)
- Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia) vs. AS Tanda (ICote d’Ivoire)
Well-travelled Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte has been named as Guinea’s new coach, less than a month before their next round of World Cup qualifiers.
Duarte, 56, has twice previously coached Burkina Faso and taken charge of Gabon and Togo, while also coaching at clubs in Portugal, France, Tunisia, Angola and Saudi Arabia.
Guinea’s football federation gave no contract details when they made the announcement on Monday, but said they would be looking for Duarte to “restructure their national team”.
Guinea trail leaders Algeria by eight points in their World Cup qualifying group with four games remaining, leaving them with only a slim chance of qualification.
They play Somalia away on September 5 and then Algeria at home on September 8 in their next two qualifiers although a stadium ban means Guinea have moved their home game to Casablanca, Morocco.
-Reuters
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Veteran coach Louis van Gaal says he has been cured of cancer and is keen for a return to the higher levels of the game.
The 73-year-old announced three years ago that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but told a Dutch television talk show, “I’m no longer bothered by cancer.”
When he announced his illness, Van Gaal was the coach of the Dutch national team, but he has not worked since the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
“Two years ago, I had a few operations. It was all bad then. But it all worked out in the end. I have check-ups every few months, and that’s going well. I’m getting fitter and fitter,” he said.
Van Gaal, whose career has included stints at Ajax Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, reiterated a lack of interest in returning to club management but said becoming the national coach of a top-tier country could tempt him back.
He now serves as a special advisor to Ajax.
-Reuters
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In a compelling twist of football destiny, Davide Ancelotti is stepping into his own spotlight as he begins his first head coaching role at Brazilian club Botafogo—just months after parting ways with his legendary father, Carlo Ancelotti, at Real Madrid.
The 35-year-old has been appointed as Botafogo’s new manager, the club announced on Tuesday, following the sacking of Renato Paiva. Davide, who has spent the last decade working alongside his father at some of Europe’s top clubs—including Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton, and Real Madrid—has signed a one-year deal with the Rio-based team.
This marks a significant milestone for the younger Ancelotti, whose career has long been shaped by his father’s influence, but who now faces the challenge of carving his own identity on the touchline.
The move comes shortly after both father and son departed Real Madrid at the end of last season, with Carlo taking over the Brazilian national team. Now, in a poetic alignment, father and son find themselves on different paths within Brazilian football—one leading the Seleção, the other steering the fortunes of a storied domestic club.
Botafogo’s decision to appoint Davide follows a controversial parting with Paiva, who was dismissed just days after their exit from the Club World Cup. Though he oversaw a stunning win over Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain, a 1-0 extra-time loss to Palmeiras in the round of 16 proved to be his final act after just four months in charge.
As Davide Ancelotti begins this new chapter, all eyes will be on whether the son of one of football’s most decorated managers can step out from his father’s shadow—and perhaps, in time, build a legacy of his own.
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